Artist: Ayo / Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds / Venue:
Nokia Theatre (New York, NY) / Date:
12.09.2007 @ 8:00PM / Genre: Folk/Soul/Reggae / R&B/Pop / Web: www.ayomusic.com www.babyfacemusic.com
About Ayo...
Ayo (her name means "joy" in Nigerian Yoruba) has been on a careening music
biz fast track ever since 2006, when her debut release, Joyful, achieved
platinum sales in France and several other European countries. The lovely
singer-composer-guitarist-pianist was born in Germany to a Nigerian father and
a Romanian Roma (Gypsy) mother and, with her husband and son, now divides her
time between Paris and New York. Joyful was produced by Grammy award-winner Jay
Newland and recorded in New York City in five days flat, under studio-live
conditions. This created a relaxed yet urgently charged ambience that underpins
the ebb and flow of all 12 tracks. Musically, the tunes incorporate diverse
quotes from a polyglot life, such as accordion-laced French bal musette,
slouchy Afro-Euro reggae, quietly down-and-dirty R & B-influenced organ
riffs, Beatles-eque piano chords, plus subtle strings and over all, a moodily
suave acoustic guitar. Ayo's girlishly light but spot-on vocals are sung
primarily in English with occasional touches of Nigerian pigeon. She speaks of
sexual passion hopeless and fulfilled, family, friendships, and philosophical
observations both grim and optimistic; these are young songs from an old soul.
The massive success of the present album has led to a television special, Ayo
Live in Monte Carlo, which will be aired in the USA on PBS. During it, the
young chanteuse performs tunes from Joyful and hobnobs with Princess Stephanie
of Monaco, with whom she shares a commitment to children's causes.
About Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds...
The lush R&B of Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds owes its origins to the white
singer-songwriter sounds of James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, and Dave Loggins?
Apparently so. That's the music that Babyface, one of the biggest urban radio
stars of the '90s, grew up on as a kid in Indianapolis, hence the premise of
this album of mostly cover songs. His performance throughout is solidly
heartfelt, particularly on the two originals, "Not Going Anywhere," a sweet
ballad of comfort to his son in the wake of Edmonds' divorce, and "The Soldier
Song," a touching call for respect to America's fighting men and women. But
while he puts a silkier spin on Taylor's deadly "Shower the People," and helps
Loggins finally grow a pair on "Please Come to Boston," Edmonds the producer
does little to interpret the songs in a new way. In the end, it all just comes
off, like David Gates's "Diary," as Bread, all of it awfully, awfully, awfully
white.